Airship.



J. G. SUHLEIGHER.

AIRSHIP, APPLIOAVTION FILED JUNE 11, 1910.

Patented Oct. 10, 1911.

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AIRSHIP.

APPLICATION I'ILED'JU'NE 17, 1910.

Patented Oct. 10,1911.

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J. G. SCHLBIGHER.

AIRSHIP.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 17, 1910.

Patented Oct. 10, 1911.

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AIRSHIP.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 17, 1910.

wee J00 1 Patented Oct. 10,1911.

Be it known that I, J OHN C. SoHLn'mHnn,

JOHN G. sennnronnmor MOUNT VE NON, NEWYJORK,

' AIRSHIP.

Specification of'Letters liatent.= Patented Oct; .1911,

Application filed une' 17','19 10. Serial Nb. semea'i To oll'whom may concern: a

a citizen of the United States, 'residin "at; Mount Viernonfin the countyof Westc es- Airships, of which thelfollowing is a specl I the lower plane so that itwillserve as'acar v --i Fig. 3, a bottom plan vlewof'the lower .'It has for a further object toprovidetlii I 20 'sectional view, on an enlaiz'ged the rear, there-by buoyi'ng the iship;-., 3

My invention relatesto airships.

It hasfor; its object to provide'an having an npper plane} arched upwardly.

and a lower plane arched downwardly and It has for a further object to co'nstrnctf" and float in water.

upper plane withfopenings,through which air will enter into thepassage between-the planes, when theship is in motion,"and-depart from said passage when the; 'shipis descending, thereby providing means for ventilating-the passagebetween the planes.

. It has fora further object to .provide'a recess or'well in thelower' plane and mount: the engine therein-,Iso thatit will. be as low,-

-side wings, which extend from the lower. plane and pivotedside wings wh ch extend.

and as Jittlelajxposed as plossible, thereby adapting it to steadylthe-s ip and offer as, little" resistance as possible to. the passage ofair' throii'gh' the passage between the lanes It has for. a further object to provide fixed] from the upper plane which'sei've to support and balance theship. I I

It has for a further'object to provide for-f ward and rear end Wings z'idapt'ed, if the ship plunges in either direction, to close the passage between the planes, at theend at whichfit plunges, so as to practically gp'ree vent the passage of air between the planes at that end, thereby otleringresistance .tothe further downward movement and causing the ship to be righted, both'wings being automatic in their operation and the forward wings in addition being manually op eratable,'therebyserving as means foreleand for slowing the ship down;

vating or depressing that end of the ship It. has for a further ob'ect to provide main propellers located between the lanes, It has tor a further; object to provi e prohis weig airship, parts being omitte Iview-Lof the lower plane partly broken away and parts'being omitted. Fig. I 6, also a xside-viewof. the lower plane partly broken pell'erstbeneath-the lower plane-ia daptedto" be operated in the same direction to: aid the mainpropellers' in driving the ship and in :It has 7 oppositedirections toustopfthe shlp or to ter and State of New York, have invented e certain new anduseful Improvements in for a "stil inrthef bl Prothe occupant below the lower plane so that "In" he'drawings; Figure 1 "is a partial plane- Fig; 4:,- a cen't'ral transverse vertical scale,"of the Fig. 5, a side away and par-ts being omitted.- Fig. 7 a

longitudinal vertical sectional viewion the line 7-7 of-Fig. 2. Fig; 8, a topfiplan view -of thawing at the forward end of the ship. -Referringjto' the drawings. illustrating my: invention'andin which like reference characters designate corresponding parts, l' .designatesan upper upwardly curved 'planei andQfla lower downwardly curved, plane,

said planes being 1 secured in spaced relation 'to each other bystandards 3 and forming bet-weenthem sin-"approximately oval air passage from the'front to the rear-of the ship through which practically all the air entering at the-front; of the ship is compelledto pass and-depart at the rear and contact 'vide a foldable seat adapted when unfolded .a'ndxthe ship isafloat in the air, to support p I t will act with that of the engine v to balance the ship andv when the occupant "leaves it to automatically close upward out w 'of th'ejwayso as notto come into -wi th the ground when landing.

' lpngitiidinal vertical sectional'view on the linel- 1 of Fig. 1 2, parts being ."omitted. Fig.2," a top plan view-of the upper plane.

thereby aid in buoying. the ship'. The upper lightg strongmaterial, for instance, canvas, aving strips 35 interposed between and bracbulkheads-subdividing the air chamber so that the plane will fioat in the water unless water enters all the subdivisions of the'air chamber. 'A recess 8 is provided which extends through. the lower 'plane' and an ,engine 9 isniount'edthere'in so that it will plane is formed by two walls 4, of some back of the seat with the rope 16 and thebe as low and as little exposed as possible, thereby adapting it to serve to steady the ship and offer the least possible resistance to the passage of air through the passage between the planes and consequently it will retard the ship as little as possible. A foldable chair 10 is also mounted in the recess 8 of the engine to-balance and steady the ship.

.The chair-consists of a back llthe upper end of which is provided with an elongated slot 12 engaged by a bar 13, a seat 14, the

.innerend pivotally connected to the lower end of the back and a foot rest 15 pivotally connected to the outer end of the seat. The seat is supported by a rope 16 connecting the outer end thereof with the under part of the lower plane and a rope connecting the foot rest is supported by a rope l7 connecting the lowerend thereof with the under part of the lower plane. I

The chair-1" is automatically folded by means of a 's'pring 18,. one end of which is connected t sZtIl eye and the other end to the back and "serves to slide the back 11 up on the bar 13 and a spring 19, one end connected to an eye and the other end to the.

lower end of the back 11 and aids in raising the parts of the chair into the recess.

The airship is provided with wheels 20, secured to the lower plane, whichprovide means for the ship to move on the ground in starting and prevent the lower plane from being damaged by contact with the ground when the ship lands.

The main propellers 21 of the airship are secured on the opposite ends of a shaft 22 mounted in journals on supports 23. The shaft 22 is driven by the engine 9 and is operatively connected therewith by a sprocket chain 24 engaging a sprocket wheel 25 on said shaft and a sprocket wheel- 26 on the drive shaft 27 of the engine.

A wing 28 is pivotally mounted off center at 28 on a standard29 at the rear end of the ship and is normally held in approximately horizontal. os ition by a spring connecting its rear end with the standard.

A wing 30 is pivotally mounted off center at 30 on a standard 31 at the forward end of the ship and is manually operatable by means of a mph 32 passing through the wing and-being connected to' arms 33 and its end-s connected to a lever 34' pivoted on the lower plane; a p

The wings 28 and 30 are adapted to act automatically if the ship plunges backwardly or forwardly, to close the passage between the planes at the end at which it plunges so as to practically prevent the pasthe lower plane and being pivotall sage ofv air between the planes at that end, thereby offering resistance to its further downward movement and causing the ship to be righted. The wing 30 on account of being also manually operatable is adapted to cause the forward end of the ski or fall and also serves to slowt down.

Stops 36 and 31 of the wings 28 and 30 respectively, to limit their upward movement so thatthey will come parallel with their standards when closing the passage in the ship.

A rudder 37 is provided on the rear end of the ship and is manually operatable by means of a rope 38 connected to a lever 39 pivoted on' the lower plane.

Fixed wings 40 extend laterally from the lower plane and wings 41 extend laterally e ship from the upper plane and are pivoted off center, on frames 42 at 43, said wings serving to support and balance the ship. Stops 44 are provided on the wings 41 and are adapted to contact with the inclined per-- tions 45 of the frames, when the wings are turned upward and with the horizontal portion 46 when the wings are horizontal and thus limit the movement of the wings.

Front propellers 47 are secured upon laterally diverging shafts 48 j ournaled at their outer ends in fixed supports 49 and at their inner ends in vertically movable supports 50 extending through the lower plane and being pivotally connected to the lower end of a pivoted lever 51 and.rear propellers 52 secured upon laterally diverging shafts 53 journaled at their outer ends in fixed supports 54 and at their inner ends'in vertically movable supports 55 extending through connected to the lower end of a pivote lever 56. Gears 57 on the front propeller shafts 48 and gears 58 on the rear ropeller shafts 53 are adapted to mesh with a. gear 59 on the lower end of a rotatable shaft 60, the upper end of which extends through the lower plane and has a gear 61 thereon meshing with a gear 62- on the engine shaft. The shaft 60 also has a gear 63 thereon, just above the gear 59, with which the gears on the shafts 48 and 53 are adapted to mesh. From this construction and arrangement it will be apparent that when the gears 57 and 58 mesh with the gear 59,the front propellers will rotate in the opposite direction to the rear propellers and serve to draw the air from the front and rear of the ship toward the center thereof and stop the ships forward movement and raise it, but when the gears 58 mesh with the gear 63 and the gears 57 mesh with the gear 59, all the propellers will rotate in the same direction and aid the main propellers in drivin the ship. The upper plane is provided with openings 65 having slats 66 secured therein on a slant are provided on the standards 29 so that the ends overlap the walls of the plane and leave spaces 67,- thereby providing means for the air to be exhausted from the ship when itis descending and for admittin g air into the ship when it is afloat and in motion.

If desired, the airship may be attached to a gas envelop by means of cables 68.

I claim:

1. In an airship, superposed planes spaced apart and front and rear wings fulcrumed between said planes at their ends and adapted to be turned on their fulcrunis and close the passage between said planes, substant-ially as described.

2. In an airship,superposed planes spaced apart and front and rear wings, for closing the passage between the planes, fulcrumed between said planes at their ends, the greatest portion of the front'wing being forward of its fulcrum and the greatest portion of the rear wingbeing rearward of its fulcrum, substantially as described.

3. In an airship, superposed oppositely ai-cliedplaiies having a passage between them contracted longitudinally of the planes on each side thereof and wings, for closing the passage between the planes, fulcrumed between said planes at their ends,

substantially as described.

4. In an airship, front and rear pairs of propeller shafts mounted under the airship and converging diagonally to the line of flight, air concentrating lifting propellers on the outer. ends of said shaft-s, gears on the inner ends of said shafts and an operating shaft having gears thereon adapted to be engaged by the gears of the propeller shafts, substantially as described.

5. In an airship, front and rear pairs of propeller shafts mounted under the airship and converging diagonally to the line of flight, extending toward one another, air concentrating lifting propellers on said shafts and means adapting the direction of rotation of said propeller shafts to be reversed, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name in the presence of two subscribing witnesses. 1 y

' JOHN C. SCHLEICHER. Witnesses:

J os. T. MULLIGAN, MARGARET BLANCO.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. C. 

